Demon of the Opera
by Laenavesse
Summary: Chp 4 up! A parody of the famous opera and movie, though my version goes a bit off from it. Okay, so there are A LOT more changers cough But it is not one of my more humourous parodies though there will be humour throughout it of course. R&R and enjoy!
1. Introduction by Special Guest Khettle

_Demon of the Opera_

**Introduction by Special Guest Khettle ( dun dun dun…** )

() --- () --- ()

It was dark.

Very dark.

So dark if you held out your hand in front of your face you would not be able to tell it was there. Or feel it. It was pretty cold, too.

Very cold.

Colder than the ninth circle of hell.

Yeeeeah, pretty dreary.

But wait!

What ho!

Is that…is that a light you espy?

It is!

And it's…mottled!

And…you hear a MOO!

What complete nonsense, there are NO cows in this area you need to get your sight and hearing checked! Anyway, I shall tell you about the tale of a phantom who haunts this opera house…

…

What? You see a light? Where?

I don't see anything you need your eyes…checked…

…

The light…it swings…preettttyyy---KJGHAKJHBJAKGBAJ

Soon the narrator could be found lying on the ground with stars and birds floating in circles above his head, a small girl dressed in a cute widdle cow costume holding a lantern and a staff in her hands, standing beside the unconscious man and gave a huff. "Hmph! Try to keep me away from my job eh? Well that just goes to show how tough little chibi people in cow costumes can be! Rawr!"

She coughed.

"Now…" She slowly turned to the now shaken audience, a little glint in her eye as she took out a flashlight and turned off the electric lamp, everything pitch black for a moment before she turned the flashlight back on and directed it up, holding directly below her face as evil laughter suddenly filled the area, cold, chilling shudders felt by all who were there.

"Teeheehee…Hello there peoples! I shall be your guide and your narrator for this little story…" The lights suddenly flickered as flashes of masks and roses could be seen around the room, several female audience members clutching to the arms of their male partners, which apparently the guys did not seem to mind much.

"Tonight you shall witness a story filled with romance!" She waved her arm to her left as a spotlight hit a panel on the wall to show silhouettes of two people hugging close to each other. "Action!" She waved her other arm to the right as another spotlight hit a panel on the opposite wall to show two silhouettes in duel. "Some comedy!" She returned to the right as a third spotlight hits a panel below the first, revealing again two silhouettes, though one was hitting the other with what looks to be a boulder. "Mystery!" She returned to the right, a fourth spotlight lighting up a silhouette that looked like Sherlock Holmes. "And most of all…angst!" With a wicked grin the whole top of the stage is lit up as she raised both of her arms, a large silhouette of obviously the phantom holding a withering rose and a picture of who they could assume as the heroine propped in front.

The child in the cow costume looked around the audience, the grin still on her face. "Are you still willing to watch? Will you be able to stay in your seat and not leave until the intermission?"

Suddenly they could hear a rather loud "PSSSTTTTTTTT HURRY IT UP!" from backstage.

With a slight twitch, her staff suddenly faced the direction from which the voice came from, the end uncapping to reveal a missile launcher. The sound of it charging up could be heard, as well as scrambling of feet, though it was obviously to no avail as the missile was fired, the loud explosion reverberating throughout the opera house as well as crashing and screams.

Silence.

She coughed again.

"Ahem…Now…" Dramatic dark music suddenly played as the spotlights turned to focus on the cow costumed strange girl. "I, Khettle, shall let you all behold the story which has been translated, versionated, and even made into a movie that the author has yet to seen and I _will_ get her to see!"

The lights started to dim once more and soon the only thing visible was Khettle's lone flashlight shining on her face in that supposed to be creepy horror story telling way.

"Ladies and gentlemen…dragons and yokai…I present to you Laenavesse's twelfth Dragon Knights fanfic, THE DEMON OF THE OPERA!"

Screams could be heard from the easily frightened girls of the audience (Was that also a guy screaming? Nah.) as she flicked the flashlight off, though not before she started to laugh a creepy maniacal laugh, soon accompanied by another more sinister one as the theme of the famous _Phantom of the Opera_ melody filled the auditorium, slowly drowning out the laughter as it too started to fade and soon the opera house could be seen empty, old and withered, the audience vanished. On the stage sat a mask and a rose on a chair in the center and through the cracked ceiling snow could be seen slowly drifting through.

The show had suddenly begun.


	2. New Owners and Patron

Demon of the Opera New Owners and Patron 

Greetings my readers :O Yes I have once more revived from the pits of writer's block to produce this work! How far will it go before it goes on hiatus like the others, no one can say for sure-coughcough- But I can assure you that until that time comes, you will witness a story of epic proportions!

…Maybe not xD; But if you're expecting something like my other parodies, then you better think again. My version of Phantom of the Opera will be darker and sillier at the same time. And the fact that I'm just going to be making my own story of this will of course provoke some OOCness. I'll leave it up to y'all to figure out who are the three main people though the title should give a major HINT…as well as knowing who my pairings are :3. So yes, totally story format though I will still somehow manage to unleash my power of slapstick comedy at some point.

Now without further ado, ze disclaimer. Khettle :O

(They soon see the little cow dressed chibi person from the introduction come in holding a sign, looking very much like the Chik-Fil-A cows, only the words are more readable and spelled correctly.)

Khettle:**o-o All characters…hey I'm in bold o-o! –coughcough- All characters unless otherwise noted belong to the creator of Dragon Knights, Mineko Ohkami. Any originally characters belong to Laenavesse, and those _will_ be noted. I belong to no one )O –coughcough- Phantom of the Opera was created by M. Gaston Leroux.**

And now without further ado, ze first actual chapter of the story! Enjoy :OOO

() --- () --- ()

"This is a fine opera house, Alfeegi."

"Do you think so, Ruwalk?"

"Well it's better than the 50 bazillion others you dragged me to."

Alfeegi just gave his companion a look that would make even the most vicious of pit bulls whine. Ruwalk just quickly turned away and looked up at the high ceiling, noting the exquisite artwork above.

"Must have been some work getting that up there, eh Alfeegi?"

He looked up. "Yes I would think so."

"Hm."

"Hm."

And so they stood there like that for a few moments, each lost in his own thoughts. So lost they did not hear or notice someone walking up to them and it was only until the person coughed and ahemed and poked them each for a few more minutes before they finally broke from their thoughts. Though, their thoughts were not the only things that were broken, as the person had slammed each of them with a boulder.

Alfeegi rubbed his head as he looked up at the young woman dressed completely in black, a pen stuck behind her ear, an eyebrow arched. "Are you that fascinated with what used to be MY ceiling? You better make sure to keep that place clean as it does hold expensive artistry that, might I add, was RATHER expensive."

Ruwalk gave a hesitant grin. "Er…yes…we noticed…"

She flicked her long hair back, the pen magically staying in place. "Good. Then I shall show you the rest of this damn haunted place."

Cue the dramatic music as Alfeegi and Ruwalk look at the young woman in slight horror. "H-Haunted?" they both cried in unison.

Their guide just continued walking past the people frantically trying to put together what looked to be a play, walking past the inside ticket booth and through the hallways. "Yeah, yeah, something about a phantom demon thing and whatnot. Never bothered me, just don't get on his bad side."

"DEMON?" Alfeegi screeched.

She turned and gave him an odd look. "What, like you've never seen a demon before?"

Ruwalk just laughed nervously, looking at his companion's livid face. "Erm…he just didn't have a rather good past with them…"

"Pft, tough it pansy boy."

"PANSY BOY?"

The mysterious woman just ignored Alfeegi's irritated mutterings and glarings as she led them further backstage before stopping abruptly, causing both the new owners to stumble so as not to crash into each other. They succeeded sort of. They crashed into the walls instead.

"This is the office," she waved casually to a room with the door open, the words "OPERA MANAGER" stuck onto the top glass window of the door. Alfeegi poked his head through the room. He noticed how clean it actually was and that some of their stuff had already been moved in. It had already been set up so both he and Ruwalk could work easily.

"I take it you approve?" she said after a few moments when Alfeegi continued to look about the office.

He blinked and hastily went back out the door. "Er, yes, this shall do quite nicely. Thank you."

She just waved him off and continued to walk forward, pointing out the several rooms along the way. "We have various dressing rooms and prop rooms. Men are on the far left while the women are on the near right. I've devised a system so that no one would go peeking…" she glanced at the two of them, once again ignoring Alfeegi's furious glares before continuing, "…though so far everyone has been on their best behavior."

"What happens if the system goes off?" Ruwalk asked curiously.

"The peeking toms are suddenly found locked in a cage, the floor dropping them to an area below the opera house, and are suspended by a chain as sharks leap up and try to eat them," she answered coolly. Ruwalk just gulped.

"How many actors are there?" Alfeegi asked as she led them back out to the main auditorium, looking around him awe. The opera house was much bigger than he had first perceived, especially taking in what he had seen backstage.

"Oh, I don't know, twenty, thirty, maybe even fifty. They come and go, depending whether they are needed or not. A lot of them double up as tech support, so that helps a bit. Though that also means they get paid twice as much. Oh and don't forget to pay the Demon Lord, he likes buying expensive things for himself and if you don't want to have it charged to the opera house then pay him as much as he asks."

This snapped Alfeegi out from his admiration as he just stopped and stared at the girl in disbelief. "I beg your pardon? We have to pay a DEMON LORD now? You just said demon!"

She blinked. "I did…?" After a moment of recollection she blinked again. "Oh, so I did. Well, yes, he is a demon lord. Not that he actually has DONE anything…okay well there was that one time that Shyrendora was trying to reach that high octave and he saved us all the torture by having one of the lights fall inches away from her…"

Ruwalk suddenly blinked when he heard something fall to the floor. When he looked to his left he realized Alfeegi had fainted and sweatdropped. "Erm…anything else we should know about this demon lord? Does he have a name?" he asked as he helped his stunned partner back to his feet.

The girl looked up thoughtfully. "Mm…well usually he usually goes by "The Demon Lord" or "The Demon" and he does like to have things to go his way. Else wise there will much havoc among the cast and the operas and plays won't turn out as well. But he and I are on good terms so the only incident was that one time with Shyrendora…" She paused when they suddenly heard a clamor on the stage and turned with an arched brow. "Ah…speaking of the real devil…and the one thing I _know_ I will not miss…"

Alfeegi, now having recuperated from his original shock, turned with Ruwalk to see the "devil" the girl was talking about. They both blanched in unison. There on center stage was the infamous Shyrendora. Though she had a talent for opera, she also had a talent of manipulating people and getting what she wanted. She had an aura of evil and it reflected in her beauty as well, something she had no trouble showing off as she seemed to prefer wearing as little as was legally allowed. She was also youkai. She had a large ensemble trailing behind her as she walked right up to the edge of the stage and stared down icily at the two new owners.

"These…these DRAGONS are the new owners of this opera house?" she yelled in an obviously outraged voice.

"Yes, they are," the girl said coolly. It never ceased to amaze Ruwalk how she could always keep her cool and ignore such icy glares. "They have a good reputation and seem most capable of running this place during my leave. I hope you will be as civil and as cooperative with them as you have, though strained it was, with me. The systems will still be up and running and no, the Demon Lord will not leave," she continued as Shyrendora opened her mouth to speak. The girl ignored her snarl. "You should feel lucky that I even let you perform here," the girl said, her eyes suddenly going cold. "I gave you a start, don't ruin that chance. Make the time I wasted on you worthwhile while under Lord Ruwalk and Lord Alfeegi. If I hear one word of disobedience or wrong from them, I know how to contact the Demon Lord."

There was a tense silence as Shyrendora stared down icily at the girl, but even though she stood physically higher than the girl, she still seemed smaller compared to the girl. Both Ruwalk and Alfeegi looked at each other in awe. The girl could not have been but in her late teens or early twenties, yet she had managed to own and operate this whole facility with no help whatsoever. Well, save for the Demon Lord, but surely he did not help with the accounting and organization.

The silence was suddenly broken as a small boy suddenly burst from the right side of the stage, ignoring the ensemble and leaping off the stage, startling everyone but the girl as he hugged her waist tightly as that was about as high as he could reach. "Miss you're not really leaving are you?" he cried as he looked up at the girl's face, tears threatening to fall from his big eyes.

She smiled softly and gently stroked the top of his head. "Yes, Zoma, I am. But don't worry, Lord Ruwalk and Lord Alfeegi will take good care of you." She gave him such a warm smile that once again Ruwalk was amazed at how she showed her emotions and wondered what she really was like. "Now get along and help Garfakcy with the stage sets. You know how he can be. And don't worry," she said as he started to protest, "I'll come by and visit once in a while and if I hear anything is wrong I shall be here as quick as lightning." She winked at him and the boy blushed a bit as he nodded and gave her one last tight hug before hastily bowing to the two dragons and climbing back onto the stage where another boy, Garfakcy Ruwalk assumed, was watching and waiting with a wrench and a bucket of paint.

Shyrendora sniffed in such a snobbish way it made Alfeegi flinch a bit. He knew he was not going to enjoy being her boss. "Really, I don't see why you've bothered to keep that brat on the crew. He almost dropped one of the backdrops on me during one of our rehearsals!"

"Might have been better if he had," the girl said dryly, causing Shyrendora to huff and abruptly turned. "Have fun practicing and don't break a glass when going off key!" the girl called after Shyrendora as she led her ensemble huffily back offstage.

Ruwalk stared at the girl in astonishment. "I'm starting to wonder if we'll be able to keep this place as well as you had!"

She gave him a wry grin. "I'm sure you will. Like I said, just drop me a line if anything goes wrong. And if worse comes to worse, summon the Demon Lord. Though he is probably more interested in other things…" her voice drifted a bit as she mused a little before shrugging. "Well, just don't let Shyrendora get her way and you should be fine."

"Are there any other performers we should know about?" Alfeegi asked curiously.

"Hm…well we do have a rising star in our midst," she said with a sly grin. "She's probably in her room practicing right now. Her name is Cesia. If you ask me, she should be the one singing in place of Shyrendora, but she is just too squeamish about it. Probably feels she's not good enough yet."

"Cesia, hm…?" Ruwalk mused softly to himself. "If we ever get her to perform, we'll be sure to let you know," he said with a grin.

She returned it. "Good, I'll be wanting to see at least one of her performances." She suddenly glanced at her wristwatch. "Well I must be off. More details can be found on your desk and if you need to contact me just write on one of these and toss it into the fire," she said as she handed them a box of small Hello Kitty Chococat memos.

"Throw them into the fire?" Alfeegi repeated incredulously. "Couldn't you just give us an address or something?"

"Nope, I'll be traveling too often to stay in one place for more than a few days. Don't worry I'll be able to get them," she reassured them. She took one last look, a wistful look in her eyes. "I'll miss this place…brings back memories…"  
Ruwalk suddenly held his head in his hand, wincing a bit. "…I feel some memories coming into my head, too…painful ones…"

The girl laughed, though it sent soft chills through the both of them as she gave them a grin. "Maybe you were in a past life…" She laughed again as she suddenly disappeared in a whirl of black and white winds, making the two dragons stare dumbstruck at where she had just been. After they looked at one another for a few moments they finally shook their heads and walked to where their office was.

"Well this should be interesting, don't you think, Feeg?" Ruwalk grinned at his partner.

Alfeegi twitched. "As I've asked for the umpteenth time, could you please refrain yourself from calling me that?" he sighed as he slumped into a desk chair, Ruwalk promptly sitting behind his own desk and propping his feet up upon it.

"I might," he just replied as he picked up a piece of paper from one of the organizing bins. "Hm…according to this there is an opera scheduled to be performed three weeks from now."

"Is that so?" Alfeegi said as he rummaged through his own papers.

"Yeah, and surprise, surprise, Shyrendora is the main female lead," he added in a dry voice. "Damn, that chick is going to drive me INSANE."

"And she's youkai to boot," Alfeegi grumbled.

"Hey, not all of them are that bad," Ruwalk said as he moved a little to look at his partner.

Alfeegi sighed. "I know…do you think His Highness would like to come here one of these days?"

Ruwalk laughed. "Always thinking about Lykouleon, eh?" He just grinned at Alfeegi's restrained twitchings of agitations. "But yeah, I'm sure he would. How about we see how this upcoming one comes along and if it seems good we invite them? Be good for the whole family. That Rath needs some time away from hunting game."

Alfeegi mused about this as he absently twirled his long, teal ponytail with his long, slender fingers. "I suppose that would be a good idea…and I know Her Majesty would love to see an opera. It _has_ been ages since they've seen one."

"See? I told you buying this place was a brilliant move," Ruwalk grinned as he looked at the sheet. "Hm…that Cesia chick is also part of the cast."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, only one of the minor parts, nothing important. But I wonder if what she said was true…"

"About Cesia having a talent? I'm sure she does. Even though Shyrendora acts like a complete bitch she's pretty good."

Ruwalk arched a brow. "Did I just hear Alfeegi say a _naughty_ word?"

Alfeegi just gave him an icy look. "Shut it."

He just laughed and leaned back in his chair. "But I hear you. She must be pretty good if she's stayed here for so long."

Alfeegi only nodded as he continued to browse through the papers before suddenly stopping and stared at a small piece of paper with curly script writing. Noticing his friend's silence, Ruwalk removed his feet from the desk and sat up. "Something up, Feeg?"

Without a word, Alfeegi handed Ruwalk the sheet of paper and with a worried glance at his friend, Ruwalk took it and quickly scanned it, only to be shocked by its contents:

_Dear Sirs Who Have Now Come to Own This Establishment,_

_It has come to my attention that the Mistress has taken leave and has left the Opera House to your, hopefully, capable hands. And as such I have taken the liberty to write this letter, making my presence known though I am quite sure she has told you of my existence within this elaborately decorated and extremely expensive furnished theatre. Without further ado, I shall now leave with a list of things that I shall be expecting periodically throughout the course of your ownership:_

_1) You will follow whatever I say.  
2) __You will not question whatever I say or command.  
3) __You will follow the rules that have been left behind by the previous Mistress and myself.  
4) __No one should ever enter the chained door at the end of the dark corridor.  
5) __You will pay me $500 every week as well as give 15 of the profit of every performance._

_If these terms are not met than do not be surprised to experience…unfortunate accidents. Thank you and have a nice day and I hope that we shall never have to meet._

_Sincerely Yours_

The Demon Lord 


	3. Discontent

_Demon of the Opera_

**Chapter 2 – Discontent**

o-o I see that a few of my old readers found this story and are happy that I've started writing again xD I shall attend to all of your reviews at the end _((something new I wanted to try o-o))_ But yes, Nadil is the demon/phantom _((though in hindsight it would have been interesting have the roles switching…and I was actually thinking of Nadil-Raseleane-Lykouleon at the beginning but Khetti said Nadil-Cesia-Rath))_ and even though they are in stand-in as the original Pot(at)O characters, that doesn't mean they have to act like them -wicked grin- And as a **forewarning**, if you're a diehard fan of Phantom of the Opera, even though it'll be similar at points, there will also be **_MASSIVE_** changes as well. So don't expect this to be like a rewrite of the story. Take my Sleeping Beauty fic for example xD; So yeah, keep that in mind as this is **my** version –cackle- Oh, and again, OOC-ness WILL occur. So no griping when it does -o- **Any comments griping about how different a character is or how off the story is from the original will be ignored**. (or maybe laughed at)

Oh, and there WILL be references to some of my other fics. If you've read them before and you catch it in this fic, then congratulations and if you want, tell me the ones you caught xD; Some are more obvious than others :O -is sneaky like that :3-

Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there first. Now, as I've always said in the past, READ ON!

() --- () --- ()

It had been a few days since Alfeegi and Ruwalk first settled into the opera house and they had been relieved to hear no more of the demon lord save for in silent whispers among the cast and crew. But they gave the mysterious figure the least of thought as the day of the opera performance drew ever, if slowly, closer. The two had been busy proofing and editing the script here and there to help bring the whole opera more to life, and during that time Ruwalk discovered he had a knack with music.

"It's odd, I really don't remember dealing much with music before," he told Alfeegi one afternoon as he looked over the music. "But ever since I've been here I've been feeling…well I don't know, "in touch" with music. I've even found myself humming to these compositions and I've never even glanced at music notes before!"

"Must be some sort of hidden talent, or as the previous owner had said, something from your past life," Alfeegi murmured as he continued to go through the scripts as well as the paperwork for the costume designs.

"Maybe I was a famous composer in a previous life!" Ruwalk exclaimed as he took in what his partner had said. "It's possible. I think I've got the looks to be one, don't you?"

Alfeegi just snorted. "Don't forget to talk to Ringleys about any changes though. Amazing little faerie. What amazes me more is how he can hold that stick and the players able to see him!"

"Maybe it glows?"

At that Alfeegi just laughed a bit and shook his head. "Maybe. Or maybe it's a whole group of those little water lights playing those instruments."

Ruwalk snorted. "Imagine a water light playing a tuba!"

At that image both of them burst out laughing and were still laughing when they heard a knock on their door and as they slowly started to regain control, Ruwalk managed to shakily call out "C-Come in!" and the door opened slowly to reveal a young girl in her late teens with another girl of about the same age, only instead of the long black hair and lighter colored bangs that the first had, she had short amber hair.

The amber haired girl blinked and raised a brow at the two managers who were still shaking a little. You would have to admit, it was a little difficult trying to rid an image of a small water light blowing into a giant tuba that was probably 20 times its own height and still not laugh. "I hope we weren't interrupting anything," she said amused.

Alfeegi wiped an eye. It had been a while since he laughed like that. On a moment's reflection he realized it had been a _very_ long time. "Oh, no, we were just going over the script and such. What can we do for you two young ladies?"

She grinned. "Actually there is…can you get rid of that bitch Shyrendora from the lead and replace her with Cesia instead?"

The other girl looked at her in shock. "KITCHEL!"

Even Ruwalk and Alfeegi had their eyebrows shot up and were looking at one another as Cesia started to talk furiously with Kitchel, her face a furious shade of pink as the other girl just stood there with a smug grin on her face. As it was obvious that none of what she said was entering Kitchel's mind, Cesia gave an exasperated sigh and turned apologetically toward the still stunned managers. "Please ignore that, I had no idea she was going to say that when we came here!"

Kitchel just made a "t'ch" sound. "Well I, and pretty much everyone else, personally think that you are a better lead! You have a much better voice than hers and you are definitely a lot easier to work with!"

Cesia flushed a bit at that. "I'll admit to the working bit…but I don't think my voice is that great!"

"Oh you LIAR! I've heard you practicing in your room! And I've heard you singing outside! It was like nature was just dancing to your voice!"

"Is that true, Cesia?" Ruwalk asked curiously.

She turned a brighter shade of red. "I-I don't really think so…" she barely whispered as she looked down to the floor.

Ruwalk exchanged glances with Alfeegi and after a brief moment they stood up. The girls blinked and Cesia looked up to find Ruwalk grinning widely at her, sheets of music held out to her. "If you would be so kind as to give us an example?"

At this Cesia went white and stammered as she tried to refuse but before she knew it Kitchel had thrust the papers into her hands and she could feel the music tingle through her. After a few heart racing moments, she started to sing, though a little haltingly and a little hushed, her voice slowly and steadily growing stronger with each measure and soon all three of them were lost within her wondrous and melodious voice. Her voice carried throughout the whole opera house and soon everyone stopped doing what he or she were doing to listen to the mysterious voice, only a few recognizing it as Cesia's. Zoma was able to tell right away and shoving the bucket of paint to one of the other stage crew members he swiftly went to follow the voice only to stop abruptly as there was a high pitched shriek. The spell of the voice had shattered and as Zoma whipped around the hall he quickly ducked back behind the corner and listened as he heard a torrent of voices near the manager's office.

"Shyrendora—," Ruwalk was saying, or try to say rather as the prima donna continued to spew forth her rage.

"**_I_** am the one appointed for the lead not this stupid little wench!" Shyrendora shrieked, pointing a pale slender finger at Cesia who was frozen wide-eyed and clutching the papers to her chest.

"Well, yes, you are—" Alfeegi tried to say until Shyrendora turned red faced to him and shrieked, "THEN WHY IS SHE SINGING THE LEAD'S SONG?"

"Because you're a stuck-up bitch and she would be a better lead than you!" Kitchel yelled at Shyrendora heatedly.

Shyrendora rounded on Kitchel then, her red violet eyes cold yet burning with rage at the same time. If looks could kill, Shyrendora's could have created a massacre, but Kitchel was unfazed and just stared back stonily. "How _dare_ you talk to me you little brat!" she hissed, her voice sending chills through everyone present. "Without _me_ you wouldn't even have half of what you see! This pathetic little opera house would be _nothing_!"

Kitchel winced a little at this. She knew, and everyone else who could hear Shyrendora knew as well. Her voice, though cold as it was, as well as her chilling beauty, had brought in a lot of the business. She was also the only one who had a voice strong enough to take on the leads. It was those reasons that the previous owner had really bothered to keep Shyrendora at all.

But now things were different. A new star was rising within the opera house and Kitchel and the rest of the members knew it. Remembering this, Kitchel felt her strength return and looked at Shyrendora stonily. "That may have been true in the past, but now it's different." Ahs blinked as a thought struck her and she said slowly and deliberately, "And _you_ know it."

Shyrendora just glared at the girl. "Lies! She could never amount to me!"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned to look at Cesia, her knuckles white she was clutching the sheets of music so hard to her chest and her eyes hidden by the shadow of her oddly lighter colored bangs. She took a shaky breath. "…Shyrendora's right…I'm not good enough…not yet at least…I still need to practice more…"

Alfeegi rubbed his temples. "Then it's settled then? Everyone keeps their part and can leave _us_ alone to do the mounting stacks of paperwork?" He wondered how much more he could take of this and dreaded the inevitable future.

Kitchel just glared at Shyrendora before taking Cesia by the hand. "Lets go, Cesia…"

Though her voice had been soft Cesia could feel the frustration her friend was going through. She knew Kitchel hated to lose an argument, particularly one she felt she was in the right. Hastily she handed Ruwalk the music and walked after Kitchel murmuring an apology. Kitchel just gave her a small smile and shook her head. Zoma stepped out from hiding place and gave them both a small but reassuring grin. They returned it and hugged the small horned boy, causing him to blush a bit before zooming back to his post. The two girls sighed and went back to rehearsing their parts.

----------

The day of the opening night came with no further incident, save for Kitchel "accidentally" dropping a basket of eggs on Shyrendora. The turnout for the performance had been spectacular as usual. When Ruwalk had gone to the ticket booths to ask how the sales were going, Nohiro, one of the ticket sellers, told him they had completely sold out for all performances. Delte, the other ticket seller, added that most of the costumers always came to see these plays, but there were a good few new ones too. Zoma, who had been helping out with ushering the people to their seats, also told Ruwalk that most of the males came just to see Shyrendora. Ruwalk had found this a little disturbing, but if it brought in the business, he supposed it was all right. He could not think on this much longer, though, as he soon discovered he had a new set of problems of his own. After walking around and greeting some of the people, he had shortly discovered a small but ever growing amount of females clustering behind him and, to his utmost horror, they were _following_ him.

"Great," Ruwalk muttered as he hurried away in a desperate attempt to lose them, "just what I need…a _fan club_." Briefly he wondered if the previous owner had these kinds of troubles and if those were the real reasons she had decided to leave. That or the stress. He could also see that as a good possibility.

As he snaked his way into the auditorium, he was shocked to see so many people there. Even the box seats had been filled. However there was one box still empty and after a moment Ruwalk remembered the note he and Alfeegi had received a few days prior.

He and Alfeegi had been taking a break from watching one of the rehearsals when a note had suddenly appeared on Ruwalk's desk. Seeing the Demon Lord's seal on it he showed it to Alfeegi and they both read it. It had only said the following: _Leave box number 5 empty._

_Well, we did as he said. I wonder if he'll be watching the opera from there…and it's also the best box seat of the whole house!_ Ruwalk noted the box's position (it would not be too difficult to remember; it was directly facing the stage. There were 3 rows of 9 box seats and box number 5 was right in the middle of the first row, which was also right in the middle of the whole wall).

When the lights flickered he took his cue and made his way to one of the doors leading to the backstage, ignoring the many pairs of female eyes he felt on his back. He let out a breath of relief after he closed the door and strode through the back halls, taking care to keep out of the performers' way. As he walked through he heard Alfeegi's voice over the intercom, giving everyone last minute instructions. Though Alfeegi's voice was as commanding as ever, Ruwalk could also detect a slight sullenness in it as well. _He must still be disappointed that His Lord could not come_, he thought, chuckling a bit.

He recalled the day when Alfeegi had gotten the response to the invitation. As usual, it was Rath's fault that the royal family could not come down to see the opera. Something about Shyrendora making him want to puke. _They're way too soft on the boy_, Ruwalk mused as he leaned against a pillar and watched everyone get to his or her place. Then there was pitch black and the opera began.

----------

There was a resounding applause, even a complete standing ovation, when the opera was finish. As usual, Shyrendora had received many roses from the male spectators and was taking it all in with a false modesty. Ruwalk just watched her in disgust and wondered what it would have been like if Cesia had played the lead instead. He repressed a smirk from his lips and congratulated everyone on their hard work as the actors came off stage. Alfeegi soon joined him and they both looked at box number 5. It had been empty throughout the whole performance. Alfeegi was a little perturbed by this.

"He tells us to leave it empty and doesn't even show up!" he quietly fumed. "That box alone is worth at least $2000! It's the best seat in the house!"

"Maybe he was there and we just couldn't see him?" Ruwalk offered. "Or," he smirked, "he just couldn't stand to hear Shyrendora's voice?"

Alfeegi just grumbled. "Bitch sent chills every time she sang…"

Ruwalk raised a brow. "There must a blue moon out tonight, this is the second time I've heard you use such language in one month!"

Alfeegi just said nothing and stalked back to the manager's office. It was Ringleys who filled Ruwalk on what had happened.

"Shyrendora told Alfeegi the settings were horrible and the costume made her itch and the spotlight needed to shine more on her and so on and so forth," the little water light had told him. "And then she threatened to leave if you continued to run things the way you do."

Ruwalk thought it would actually be better if the prima donna just left the world completely. He was sure everyone else thought so as well, but the loss would also damage the business and that was the last thing they needed. At least, not until the performances were over. _Then_ maybe…

He let out a sigh and went after Alfeegi only to find his head buried in work and papers. Ruwalk knew better than to try and talk to his friend when he was like this and so decided to just sit at his desk and leaf through his own paperwork. He had a feeling that they would soon be sailing through trouble waters if things continued to go the way they were going.

----------

Cesia sighed. It was after the second night and as usual the opera was a hit. But she could not help feeling a little slighted and that made her even more miserable. She was now sitting in her dressing room (well, it was also her own living quarters. Like most of the actors, the previous owner had let them stay if they were going to be working there for a long time and did their jobs well, and Ruwalk and Alfeegi had also upheld this policy) and had her arms crossed along her vanity, her head gently resting on her arms and her eyes closed. It was after a few moments of silence when she heard his voice and looked up.

"My sweet angel of music you seem to be in distress." The voice was deep and soothing.

Cesia blushed a bit but she felt comforted by his presence, wherever that may be. "My teacher…I feel shamed by feeling such jealousy toward Madame Shyrendora…"

"You need not feel such ways, and certainly not jealous," he said. "Why feel jealous over one who is inferior to you?"

"Sir!" she said aghast. "I am by no means _above_ her! I'm still learning…!"

There was a soft chuckle. "We shall see…come next performance you shall be the lead. And do not forget to practice lest your voice will harden and you will truly be inferior to that witch."

And then there was silence and she could feel he had gone. Cesia just stared blankly into space. Come next performance? Surely he could not mean the one tomorrow! Perhaps the next opera…_but I don't think I could ever make up to be the lead…and surely Shyrendora would throw a fit and Lord Alfeegi and Ruwalk would _have_ to assign her the role…_

She sighed and decided to practice her scales like her teacher had instructed her to. She did them softly, however, as she did not want to attract any unnecessary attention to her room. Who knew when her teacher would come again (though she knew it would be a while yet) and she had kept her relationship with him a secret, ever since that first night she came here. Smiling a little at the memory her voice lifted a little and though she did not notice, the flowers within her room started to bloom fuller and even the furniture seemed to liven up.

----------

Alfeegi by this time had calmed a bit and had decided to just spite Shyrendora's ever growing complaints by doing nothing about them. There was only one night left and then they could worry about the next opera, whatever that may be. He had been pulling off several different operas from the shelves and seeing which had been done before when he heard a soft "pop" and saw a piece of paper with the Demon Lord's seal on it. Wondering what this demon wanted now, Alfeegi snatched the paper and read it. He immediately gave it to Ruwalk and hunted for his blue squishy ball. Once he found it he then immediately began to do what his doctor had told him: squeezed the living daylights out of the thing.

Seeing Alfeegi squeezing the ball as if to kill it (it was a good thing those things don't explode easily), Ruwalk took the paper and read it. He could then see why Alfeegi was feeling the way he was though Ruwalk thought he was taking it a little to the extreme.

_Dear Managers of this Establishment,_

_It has come to my attention that there has been some unrest among the performers and that Shyrendora continues to be her old self. Therefore you should sack the witch at once and replace her with Cesia. If not then there shall be terrible repercussions and Shyrendora may not be the only one to leave._

_Yours truly,_

The Demon Lord

"Hey, at least he agrees with the rest of us in having that bitch out of this place," Ruwalk said to Alfeegi who had calmed a bit by now and was now just squeezing the ball with less force and anger. His ball had a few dents in it from his nails, but otherwise it still looked the same. "I don't see why we shouldn't do as he says."

"Although I too am in favor of this, the repercussions from _Shyrendora_ might be worse than the ones that demon might do," Alfeegi grumbled. "We can't just sack her with no warning. She might think there was a conspiracy or something and then create some outrageous propaganda about the opera house. _Then_ where would we be?"

"Hm…you have a point there, Feeg." Ruwalk thought for a minute before snapping his fingers. "I got it! How about we hold a contest of sorts between the two of them? Along with us two, we could have some other anonymous judges to help decide who is actually the better." _Though I'm sure all of them would agree that Cesia would be better. Hands down._

Alfeegi looked at Ruwalk thoughtfully. "There are times when your brain astounds me, Ruwalk."

"Thanks…I think."

Alfeegi gave a grin and nodded. "All right, that's just what we'll do then. If Shyrendora leaves, then that would be of her own choosing. It may be slow at first but I'm sure Cesia will be able to attract a crowd even greater than Shyrendora! We might have to have more performances!"

Ruwalk laughed. "Oh lords no! Don't torture them more than they already are!"

But they both knew that everyone would not mind working harder if they had a new lead to work with and they had both seen how everyone practically loves Cesia, some more than most. And so they discussed when and how the contest should be held and immediately started drawing up the plans and figuring out who else should be part of the panel of judges.

----------

After hearing the managers' discussion, a figure slowly crept away from his hiding place above the ceiling of the office and stealthily made his way through the dark upper hallways. No one dared to go up here, save for the few brave technicians who had to access the lightning. But it did not really matter. The one whom they feared did not inhabit this area.

If anyone had been there, they would have seen a young male youkai with light, mint green hair walking through and across slowly rotting wooden boards and planks before swinging on a chain across a wide gap of space. Upon landing he opened a secret door and climbed down the long, dimly torched lit stone stairwell, all the way down to below the opera house and through another secret door. Upon reaching the underground lair he slowly went up to a dark, caped figure sitting in an old antique chair behind an even older hard oak desk, sheets of paper littering its surface.

The youkai stood before the desk. "They'll be holding a contest, my Lord."

The figure raised his head revealing a handsome half masked face, his dark red eyes glowing. "So I see…well then I suppose I should participate in this event. Don't you agree, Sabel?"

Sabel's bright emerald green eyes lit up as he gave his master a soft smirk. "That I do, my Lord. And since I believe the judges will be masked, it would indeed be a perfect opportunity for you. They would never recognize you. Want me to draw up the submission forms, my Lord?"

The Demon Lord gently stroked his chin with a long, slender finger, a quill still held poised in the other hand. "Yes, Sabel. And I suppose you could use my real name. No one would know it was actually me."

Sabel nodded. "As you wish, my Lord. I shall have those ready for you to look over and sign as soon as they are released. How is the opera coming along?"

The Demon Lord looked back down at the several sheets on the desk and gave a small smile. "It should be ready within the next few days, giving me ample time to reread and edit before submitting it. Have you heard anything from the Mistress?"

"Galaba has yet to return, my Lord, though I did receive word from one of my soul soldiers that he is on his way back. I'm assuming she went somewhere far."

"Very good," he said before waving Sabel off. "Carry on then, Sabel."

The youkai bowed and quietly walked down some steps and disappeared through one of the many corridors that branched off from the main room. The pen worked furiously as the Demon Lord continued to create his musical work before he let out a soft sigh and put the quill down. He leaned back against his chair and picked up a framed photograph from the desk, a rueful smile on his face.

"How ironic…you will finally see me yet you will not know it is me…" After a few moments of staring at the picture he gently placed it back and continued to work, his long violet hair gently trailing from his shoulders, the shorter strands hanging from the sides as his head bent low and the pen returned it's furious pace.

----------

Faraway, standing at the top of some lone cliffs, a girl dressed completely in black gave a small smile as she watched the giant green fish disappear in the horizon. She held up her hand to let a small bird gently perch on her outstretched finger and gently stroked it.

"Looks like the winds of fate are once again working," she softly murmured to the bird before releasing it back into the air, watching it fly after the fish and soon disappearing as well.

Shouldering her backpack she closed her eyes and black and white winds started to surround her and soon she was gone.

() --- () --- ()

Whoo 8 pages oO Well, barely 8 if I took out that forward at the top xD;; At any rate, this was a rather interesting and time jumpy chapter. Cesia is more like her white counterpart at the moment. Whether or not she stays that way is still up in the air soooo yeah. And as I said before in the previous chapter, I shall address all of your reviews up to this point :D So here we go!

Kavic: S'was the first one to review :D! I hope my fics being addicted isn't too bad xD Thanks though!

Yokai no Miko: Heeey is it bad that this fic is different from the others? XD;; It's always good to have variation!

Knowwi: Yeah, this fic can't be in script format because like Fanfiction disabled ALL of the characters save for like the following- :()!-:;?"' and that's about it I think. Any of my usual keys that I would have used are no longer registered. Not even the equal sign. I mean, what if someone had something to do with an equation? Why write out all the numbers and stuff when you could just like actual numerical equation! Stupid people --;

Peridot-chan: Slap-stick expert? Me? I think you give me too much credit xD! But we'll have to see! It's not the first time I've done something serious so…yeah. But don't worry, I'll still have the humor :3 And also, Rath won't be ANYTHING like Raoul and as I think more about it I don't think I'll have as much angst as I thought I would have, but who knows? But yeah, Rath will be himself. Somewhat…I have a feeling this is sort of in tone of my Hidden Roses fic…erp. But they'll be different for sure!

dark-birdie: o---------O I'm…um…glad you're happy I'm writing again….o------O And you've never seen _Phantom of the Opera_? For shame! )OOOO (The things I have to come with to make new faces…)

Remana: Disappointed that Nadil is the phantom? Well like I said up top, I had other ideas and even now I'm thinking of other possible ways to do it but I really think this is best. Besides, I've always been a NadilxCesia fan xD;; Glad you like it nonetheless!

bananaluvie-rc: Glad you like it! And I shall continue to chug forward as new waves of ideas keep rushing through me )D


	4. The Gears are Turning

_Demon of the Opera_

**Chapter 3 – The Gears are Turning**

Whoo I seem to be on a roll with this fic! The ideas just keep coming to my mind and I'm driving some of my friends insane in the process xD

Khetti: Yeah, like me -o-

-swt- Well, anyway, at the moment Cesia seems to be more of her white self, but even though in the previous note I was unsure of what would happen I am **now** sure of how this fic is going to go :333 Like most of my parodies, _Phantom of the Opera_ will never be looked at the same again xDD I'll keep some of my more important plans as a surprise but I'm going to tell you now, there WILL be singing xD You'll see how I'm going to do that in the next few chapters. Well, that's all for now so as I always say, READ ON!

() --- () --- ()

It was after the final performance and as was customary the cast and crew had an after performance party to celebrate another fine opera finished. Alfeegi was especially pleased by the monetary turnout and had extended the budget to let the crew have more than they would have originally.

"He's always a scrooge when it comes to money," Ruwalk muttered to Kitchel and she could not help but laugh a bit.

"Well I don't think he should worry. The previous mistress had saved a lot so there should be plenty in the savings fund," Kitchel said before taking a sip from her drink. "What other quirks does Lord Alfeegi have?"

Ruwalk just grinned. "I think it would be best to leave those unsaid." He looked around. "Where's Cesia?"

Kitchel shifted a little. "Um, she said she wasn't feeling too well so she went back to her room instead. I'll take her some refreshments in a bit. She looked kind of tired earlier so she's probably just worn out," she reassured Ruwalk. "So don't worry, she's in capable hands."

"Hm…all right. If she needs anything just let us know."

Kitchel let out a sigh of relief when he left to go to find Alfeegi. She leaned against one of the pillars, watching the other people mill about the large area behind the stage. Shyrendora had gone to some other place, to everyone's complete relief, but Kitchel could not help feeling a trickle of apprehension go through her. Ever since that day when she and Cesia had gone to the Alfeegi and Ruwalk to discuss the removal of Shyrendora, the prima donna had kept to herself more and on more than one occasion did Kitchel catch her talking secretively on the phone. It had not sound good, but before Kitchel could hear more someone would find her and whisk her away to do some job. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh, hoping nothing bad would happen to her friend. If something did, she would never forgive herself. It was her fault that she suggested Cesia to see them in the first place.

"Stupid witch," Kitchel muttered into her drink before taking another sip. "Always ruins everything…"

"I couldn't agree more," a voice suddenly said next to her.

She jumped startled and turned around to see a person she had never seen before and blinked. He had light mint green hair and the deepest green eyes she had ever seen. But he also had a haughty air about him, though not as bad as Shyrendora's. She recovered herself and cleared her throat. "Erm, is there something I can help you with?"

"Why yes, there _is_ something you could help me with," the stranger said. "Could you direct me to one of the managers of this establishment?"

Kitchel nodded and pointed to where Ruwalk and Alfeegi were standing by one of the food tables. "Right over there, Lord Ruwalk and Lord Alfeegi. Just don't do anything to trip Lord Alfeegi's anger system," she grinned a little.

He returned it and nodded to her before striding over to where the two were still talking. Kitchel lingered at her post for a few seconds more before stealthily making her way through the crowd, keeping out of sight of the stranger. She swiftly ducked underneath one of the nearby tables as the stranger finally reached the two managers and she inched closer so she could hear better.

"Lord Alfeegi, Lord Ruwalk," the stranger started to say once the two noticed him, "I have some important papers for you."

"Important papers?" Alfeegi repeated as he took the sheets from the stranger and blinked when he saw them. "Why, they're the applications for judging the contest!" He looked back up at the stranger in front of him. "Who sent you?"

He just gave a grin. "That I cannot say lest I be killed on the spot. But those are all the judges who will be appearing. I am sure you will find those four capable of giving a fair result. Three of them are on their way at this very moment and should be arriving in a few days time." He gave them a bow. "Now if you will excuse I must return. My master has a thing for punctuality." Before any of them could even think of something to say he had turned and left.

However, before leaving the area, he walked over to Kitchel's hiding spot and bent down, raising the tablecloth a bit to look directly into her face. Kitchel gulped and held back a scream of surprise. She also felt heat rushing up to her face when she saw his face so close to hers. Upon such close inspection she found the stranger rather handsome with his short hair hanging like that and his eyes were a lot deeper than she had first thought.

The stranger gave her a small smirk. "I think your eavesdropping skills have gotten a little rusty since your thieving days, miss. You should stick to your singing." And with that he stood back up, dropping the tablecloth in the process, and walked off, disappearing out the door.

Kitchel sat there frozen a second before floundering out from beneath the table, her face still flushed though now it was mixed with anger and frustration. "HEY COME BACK HERE!" she yelled but she knew he had gone and instead she had everyone staring at her as if she were insane. Ignoring the stares she just stalked over to the punch bowl, refilled her cup, and slugged it down as if it were water and everyone returned back to what they were doing.

Kitchel sighed as she once again leaned against her pillar. She wondered who the stranger was and from what she had heard neither Alfeegi nor Ruwalk knew who he was either. For a crazy moment she thought he could have been the Demon Lord himself but then shook the idea away. Still, she wondered if perhaps the green haired stranger was somehow related to the demon who "haunted" the opera house. In hindsight she could see that he was actually youkai. So it _was_ possible yet also not at the same time. Frustrated even more she just downed another cup of the punch and went about getting some refreshments to take back to Cesia, deciding to just try to forget about the whole incident completely.

_Not like I'll see him again anyway_, she thought.

----------

Cesia had been lying down on the small couch in the sleeping area of her room, her eyes closed and her face a little pale. Her breathing was a bit heavy as well, and it seemed what Kitchel had said was true. She was turning to lie on her side when she felt a soft breeze and, wondering where it had come from, she slowly opened her eyes to see an elegant white rose lying on the small glass coffee table in front of her and sat up. She picked it up and saw that there was a note attached to it. Still holding the rose close she slowly read the note.

_My Angel of Music,_

_It seems that you are not feeling well and I hope that this small symbol shall help you ease your troubles. Now rest and stay well and keep the rose fresh or your voice may also wither._

Though it was not signed, Cesia knew who had sent the gift and smiling a little she quickly stood up and searched for something to use as a vase. Upon finding a glass cup she quickly filled it with water and gently placed the rose in it. She then quietly removed one of her drawers and opened a secret door behind it, revealing a small hidden compartment where various small things were stored. She gently folded the note and tucked it among her treasures, closing the small door and replacing the drawer afterwards. Feeling a little better, she returned to the couch and laid down upon it, instantly feeling sleep come to her.

So deep asleep was Cesia that she did not feel the soft gentle gloved hand brush through her soft strands of hair nor feel the blanket suddenly placed upon her. She also did not hear the soft whirl of a black cape, nor the soft but heavy booted footsteps leave her room and through the hidden door no one knew that was actually her mirror.

After closing the secret door, the figure let out a soft sigh and leaned heavily against it. He could hear someone enter the room and set down a tray on the table before leaving a minute later but he almost did not hear the soft footsteps coming toward him. But he did and after a moment he moved away from the door and walked through the dimly lit corridor to meet with the light mint green haired youkai. He raised a brow at the suit but the youkai just shrugged.

"Gives a good impression," was all he said and the two continued to walk through the corridors together in silence, their heavy footfalls the only sounds echoing around the stone walls. After a few more moments they were in the large underground lair and the Demon Lord returned to his desk where he sat, one leg resting upon the other, quill instantly in his hand, while Sabel went over to a nearby couch and flopped onto it, one leg hanging off the side while the other hung off the arm rest. His back propped up by several fluffy pillows, he raised a hand and a martini instantly appeared in it.

"So you met with your girlfriend?" Sabel grinned over at the masked figure above him and took a sip of the martini. After no response the youkai just shrugged. "You'll have your chance, my Lord. I daresay you introduce yourself after the contest. We both know Shyrendora will throw a fit after she loses and everyone will be distracted by her not to notice."

The Demon Lord put his quill down and let out a sigh. "If only it were as easy as you say, Sabel," he said after a moment. "But how could I show her myself? How could she accept me?"

Sabel just scoffed. "We both know why you're wearing that bloody thing."

The Demon Lord said nothing and instead returned back to his work. Sabel let out a sigh and finished his martini, the glass disappearing after he placed the now oliveless toothpick back into it. "I met an interesting girl on my way to deliver the papers," Sabel said in a bored tone.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, that thief turned singer chick. Tried to eavesdrop." He laughed. "I didn't let her hear anything important though. I even caught her by surprise. She was hiding underneath a bloody table! Can you get more novice than that?"

"Hm."  
"And so she's sitting there gawking and I heard her yell after me after I passed through the door – I actually waited a bit to see if she would – but as if I would go back just to amuse her. Though it probably would have been amusing for me."

"Hm."

"Things will be pretty interesting within the next few days, don't you think, my Lord?"

"Hm."

Sabel rolled his eyes and let out an obviously bored sigh. "Oh please! At least _humour_ me a little!"

"Hm."

Knowing that no matter what he said or did, even if he juggled chickens while riding on a unicycle trying to imitate a clown, the Demon Lord would not break from his concentration and so he just closed his eyes and envisioned the days to come. Imagining Shyrendora's livid face when she inevitably lost caused him to laugh a bit but as he suspected, the Demon Lord did nothing in response and Sabel just let out another sigh and dozed off.

Hearing the deep, soft breathing coming from the youkai, the Demon Lord let out a sigh and put his quill down and looked at the sheet in front of him. It was a complete disaster, words scratched out and underlined, arrows littering the page and he had somehow even doodled a flower at the corner. He stared at it a moment before just crumpling and tossing the whole page altogether. He pulled out another sheet of paper from his desk and as he looked up his eyes caught the photograph resting on his desk and he looked at it a long while before gently running a gloved thumb over the face.

"Soon…soon we will know if our story will continue to develop or if it will be doomed to be crossed out and tossed into the realm of failure."

----------

There was a buzz of activity during the next few days. Alfeegi had announced to everyone of the contest for the next lead role they would be holding between Shyrendora and whoever was voted to be her opponent. Unanimously, Cesia was voted, much to Shyrendora's disgust. No one else was really surprised. Anyone would jump at the chance of getting Shyrendora sacked or even spited. And so with everyone's help – except for Shyrendora of course – they set up the stage and brought in a table for the judges to sit. No one knew who the judges were exactly and no one would ever know since they were going to be masked.

Alfeegi let out a sigh as he watched everyone work. "Do you really think this is a good idea, Ruwalk?"

"Well, if it will get Shyrendora out and the Demon Lord happy, I don't see why not. And we haven't heard anything from the demon either."

"That's what I'm worried about," Alfeegi muttered. "What if he tries to sabotage the contest?"

"And risk hurting Cesia? Based on the fact that he suggested her to replace Shyrendora, I doubt that he'll want any harm to come to her."

"That's _another_ thing I'm afraid of," Alfeegi groaned. Ruwalk never knew Alfeegi was afraid of so many things. "What if Shyrendora tries to harm _Cesia_ so that she gets a sure win? And who _are_ these judges anyway?" He pulled out the applications and read the names aloud. "Three females and a male. One of them being only but a child. The names listed are Alena, Khetti, Relle, and Nadil. I've never heard of them before!"

Ruwalk frowned a little. "…Khetti…Khetti Khetti Khetti…somehow that sounds familiar…"

Alfeegi shrugged. "I think of a kettle, personally. But she's the youngest. And it says she works for a fast food place called Chik-Fil-A!"

Ruwalk raised a brow. "And the others?"

"Alena is a free-lance writer, Relle works with computers, and Nadil…well it really doesn't say _anything_ about him," Alfeegi said in an exasperated voice.

"Interesting…"

"_And_ who was that youkai who gave these to us? What if they're fake and we've fallen for a horrible joke and have set this up for naught?"

Ruwalk chuckled. "I doubt that, Alfeegi. Besides, even if it were, we could probably find some off hand judges. We basically just need people to see whose voice is better."

But Alfeegi was far from being reassured and just looked at the activity anxiously. He had a horrible feeling growing in the pit of his being and he just could not shake it loose. "What if we had one of the royal family members also be a judge? Like a special guest?"

Ruwalk blinked. "Do you think they _would_? Lord Lykouleon and Lady Raseleane never leave without their son and I can tell you for sure that he would not come to hear Shyrendora sing."

Alfeegi sighed. "You're right, which is what I despise most about you!"

Ruwalk just grinned. "Thank you, I hear that often actually…"

Alfeegi just gave him a dry look. "Just be careful where that takes you. Your wit has been known to land you hot waters."  
Ruwalk cringed. "Don't remind me. So what songs shall our contestants sing?"

"I actually thought it would be interesting and probably better if they sang a song of their own choosing," Alfeegi said. "I had already told them the other day."

Ruwalk laughed. "Hm…I can only imagine the song Shyrendora would choose. I'm sure they would want music so I'll tell them to send the music to Ringleys so he can practice."

Alfeegi nodded and watched as his friend go off to find the two women. He watched everyone working and felt his lips twitch into a small smile as he saw everyone actually having fun with the set. They were going all out since Shyrendora had told the crew what song she would be singing. One side of that stage looked like it was to represent the Arctic North or some other frigid place. There was even an ice sculpture being made at one point. Just looking at it sent chills through Alfeegi.

Cesia, on the other hand, had yet to choose which song and was with another group to help her decide what she should sing. No surprisingly, Zoma and Kitchel were there to try and help. But after a few more minutes of discussion, Cesia just sighed and stood up from the chair she was sitting in and shook her head.

"There's no way I can do this!" she cried, must to everyone's surprise.

"Yes you can, Ces!" Kitchel said sternly and handed her the small binder of songs they had gone through. "Look, you still seem tired so why don't you take these back to your room and if we think of other songs I'll send Zoma to you for you to look at, okay?"

Zoma looked up at Cesia concerned. "I hope you're not getting sick, Cesia…"

She just smiled and shook her head. "I'm okay…just a little stressed I guess," she said in the most cheerful tone she could muster before leaving the group. But before she could get much farther, she stopped abruptly to find Shyrendora glaring at her haughtily, all dressed in the most expensive styles she could find. Cesia just looked grimly back at the prima donna. "Is there something I can help you with, Madame?"

Shyrendora just smirked a bit. "Help me? I don't think you're even capable of _that_," she laughed as she moved to walk past her. But as she came right alongside Cesia, she whispered fiercely, "Don't expect your little _teacher _to help you, wench."

Cesia whirled around as Shyrendora continued to walk on laughing with her high annoying laugh and just stared at her back for a few more moments before stumbling backwards and dashing back to her room, barely avoiding the people bustling around the area and ignoring their questions. Once she reached her room she fumbled with the lock and burst through the door, closing the door firmly behind her and locking it before dashing to her sleeping quarters and crying out, "Oh my teacher! Are you here? Please answer me!" she half sobbed before falling to the floor and starting to weep into her hands.

It was not too long before she heard the familiar voice. "My angel what is wrong? You seem to be in great distress. Tell your teacher, your guardian what is bothering you."

"She knows!" Cesia cried. "She knows you've been tutoring me!"

"Who?"

"Madame Shyrendora!"

There was a moment of silence and Cesia feared he had left her but she heard his voice again, though it seemed a little more hushed and serious.

"Did you deny or agree to that claim?"

Cesia shook her head then realizing that he might not see the action she said softly, "No…I was too shocked to say anything and she was already walking away…but I'm sure she suspects it!" She then said in a hurried voice, "I swear I've never said or even hinted at being tutored by you! I've kept our lessons a secret, I swear!"

"I don't doubt that," he said kindly, "but I must again stress for you to be careful. Maybe she heard you singing and is drawing on that face that you must be being tutored. She might be going off that instead of assuming it is me."

Having not thought of this and instead panicking to the point of crying, Cesia felt slightly foolish and ashamed. She wondered what her teacher thought of her now but as if he had read her mind, he let out a soft laugh and said softly, "Do not worry, I will continue to guide you. But what else is the matter?"

She let out a soft sigh. "Just…just all that's been going on…this…contest for the next lead…I don't really think I can do it…and I don't even know what song I should sing…"

She soon felt a soft breeze and there was a soft flutter as sheets of music suddenly appeared before her. She was caught in surprise even though this was not the first time her teacher had given her music in this manner. She hesitantly took the papers from the air and looked at them wondrously. "…You want me to sing this…?"

"Yes. I think it would be perfect."

Cesia hugged the music close to her and looked back up, her eyes shining now. "Thank you, my teacher! I shan't make you regret this!"

There was a small laugh and the voice was gone, Cesia once again alone in her room though now she was in lighter spirits than she had been before. She looked once more at the sheets of music in her hand and softly murmured the title aloud. "_Deliver Me_…it already sounds sad yet beautiful…" She took one last look at the notes before standing back up, undid the locks and exited her room, quickly looking around before dashing off to find Ringleys and the others. She only had a few more days until the day of the contest would be held and she had to work in time to practice with Ringleys before Shyrendora hogged him like she tended to do.

In her haste to find the water light she did not notice the strange figure dressed in black casually leaning against the wall nor did she feel the deep green eyes watching her run down the hallway from behind. Closing his eyes with a grin, he shrugged off the wall and turned down the dark deserted hallway. No one seemed to notice him go through the chained door or how the chains and locks had just slithered back when the youkai approached.

Sabel went through the door and immediately spotted the Demon Lord walking towards him. "Another mission complete, it seems," he said grinning. His master just looked at him and continued walking toward the underground lair. Sabel just shrugged and followed him. "Do you suppose I could also listen in?"

"If you kept in hiding, I'm suppose you could," the Demon Lord said as he once more returned to his desk and once more started working on his opera. "You didn't torment that girl again did you?"

Sabel blinked. "Who?"

The Demon Lord just shook his head. "Never mind. Did anyone pass by while were conversing?"

"Nope, though I did feel this strange presence nearby. But when I looked around it disappeared. I think someone or something tried to get past the barrier."

"Hm…"

At that moment something bubbled in the lake below them and soon a giant green fish poked his head above the surface and made a "blub" sort of sound. Sabel jumped down from the platform and landed atop the fish's head. "It looks like our guests have arrive, my Lord. Wish me to send them in?"

"Yes, just take them to their rooms," he said distractedly as his quill continued to work furiously.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Sabel grinned before yelling, "Lets go, Galaba!" and with another loud "blub" both he and the fish disappeared underwater without even so much of a splash.

The Demon Lord idly twirled his quill with his fingers. He actually dreaded the arrival of his guests and he knew that Sabel would also wish they were gone within the next few days. But they were necessary and it had been a while since they had seen each other. He picked up the letter he had received that very night Alfeegi and Ruwalk had sent out the applications.

_Naaaaadddiiiiillllll! I hope you've kept our rooms clean over the past few months. I've caught wind of the contest and you _know_ I'll want to be part of it! So make sure our rooms are prepared and I'll be bringing Khetti and Rellie over to help judge :D:D:D:D:D:D And fill in our forms for us, pleeeeaaasssseee? I hope you're almost done with that opera, you've been working on it for a rather long time now. And have you made any progress with Cesia? –snicker- You haven't been peeping have you?_

At that he had flushed a bit. It had not been his fault Cesia had called to him while she was changing…

_Anyway, Khetti can't wait to meet Sabel and play with Galaba. I had told her allllll about them. And you, too. She's just mooing with joy! –teehee- And Relle says she hopes you have internet access down there. Or at least electricity. I assured her of that. You should feel lucky, you're one of the very few to have _any_ of that during this time period. _

He somewhat doubted that actually. He had found his bills to be higher because of it.

_I'll see you within the next couple of days then! Ja!_

Nadil sighed. He had a feeling the next few days were going to be more chaotic then he had bargained for. _Why couldn't they just rent a hotel?_ he thought muttering a little. _And when did she get that…that…well whatever she is. That trip must have done more to her mind than I expected…_

At that very moment he heard a loud splash and Sabel yelling and the voice he had hoped he would not have had to hear a while yet.

"Naaaadddiiiiilllll I'm baaaaaaaack!"

() --- () --- ()

Bwahahaha…just to let everyone know, there will be some personality changes later on that will be on made on purpose. Cesia and Nadil will be the most hit. But I shant say more, I've already said enough –shiftyeyes- But yes. Is there a SabelxKitchel pairing going on o-O? To be honest…I'm not sure xD;; But you never know –evillaugh- Originally this chapter would have been the contest…but uh, as you can see I didn't get quite close to it, eh-heh…so yeah, the next chapter for sure! …Or at least close! –swt- Now for those three incoming characters. You should probably know who Khetti is—

Khetti: Yeah you better! -o-

c-c But you don't know who the other two are…yet. I'll tell you this much, I didn't make either of them up. Maybe Alena's name. But you should know Alena _very_ well…

Oh and Rellie is Khetti's sister.

Khetti: -cheers- I'll have my sister with me this time! nOn

Yep…(By the way, Rellie is not Khetti's _real_ sister –coughcough-) so now the reviews!

Demonhunter: I'm writing, I'm writing…lol

Yokai no Miko: xOOOOO Why do people NOT like Nadil? T-T What is with people and going against the main villain T-T And he is NOT creepy he's just super cool n-n Not my fault that Rath can't seem to handle him very well…And he's just being the evil demon lord that he is T-T At any rate, I'm having fun with him )D Just wait until you see what I have in store for him…and everyone else for that matter x)

Shorea Tashinnaku: Uh…do I know you? O-o Maybe you're pen name has changed…And the reason why Khetti and Rellie are in it is cos they're actually really close online friends of mine and Khetti is being the beta reader for this. Plus she's just so cute and fun to work with x) And they're not really making any big cameo appearances…Okay so being judges is kinna big but still. On the Nadil and Sabel thing, in the original _Phantom of the Opera_, the book, the phantom has a servant I believe. He didn't appear in the opera though. But at any rate, this is **my, MY MY MY MY MY MY MY MY MY MY MY,** version so I have the freedom to what I want with it n-n Alfeegi _should _be stressing about firing Shyrendora because, well, she's the "villain" and you haven't seen Shydeman, right? Well you will later x) And yes, Rath is not like Raoul. In fact, some characters, as I stated at the very beginning, will not be like the original counterparts. And Cesia may or may not be like her original self later. But there'll definitely be personality changes…-evil cackle-

banaluvie-rc: Glad you like it n-n And you _shall_ have more! Like this chapter xD; Since you reviewed the previous chapter xD;; …Yeah.


	5. Incoming Guests

_Demon of the Opera_

**Chapter 4 – Incoming Guests**

I just keep chugging out these chapters…a lot of them being written during my "vacation" to the beach in Florida. And Mom telling Dad how fast my fingers are typing and Dad asking if I'm typing properly and I am incidentally. Lets see how fast did I go? 76 words per minute with 97 accuracy? It's gone up since then, of course, mwahahaha. That was back in 9th or 10th grade I can't remember…oh yeah I'm entering my first year of college at the end of August T-T;;; So yeah, better churn out as many chapters as I can before I start losing steam again xD;

Oh, on the actual upcoming chapter…um…well originally I was going to have the contest start in this chapter but as it got kinna long at the point I decided it would better to just start the next chapter with the contest. So what happens in this chapter then? Well, the three judges have arrived to Nadil's lair and Sabel is _not_ happy. Why? Well read to find out xD This chapter is guaranteed to get a good few chuckles out of you teehee –evilcackle- Anyways, READ ON!

() --- () --- ()

The following morning Sabel was sitting on his couch with a stony look on his face. And he had every right to look that way. Khetti had plastered mud all over his face while he had been sleeping that previous night and it had hardened. She was now down below at the lake playing with his giant fish, and upon this discovery his face flushed in anger. The heat from his face caused the mud to harden and it soon started to crack, the newly dried mud slowly crumbling from his face. If he had a mirror he would have noticed that his face actually looked a lot better now.

He glared at the cow costumed little girl's back with seething thoughts only to freeze when he suddenly felt someone staring at _him_. Slowly turning around he saw one of the other girls just _staring._ Guessing she was around fifteen or sixteen years old, he knew he could take her down easily, but it was that _stare_ that just sent such paralyzing fear. He inched away from her as to his horror he saw her slowly coming towards him, the black chii ears that blended in with her black hair twitching. "C-Can I help you?" he asked, his voice cracking.

She just continued to inch toward him, her eyes wide. "…Are you really Sabel…?" she finally asked after a few heart-wrenching moments. Well, they were heart-wrenching moments for Sabel since she kept coming closer to him.

"Er…yes…" he said too late as he realized he could have lied and faked his identity. But he had a feeling that would have been in vain.

Again she kept moving toward him, her eyes just growing bigger. "Reeeaaallllyyy?"

At this she closed the gap by quite a few more inches and caused Sabel to give a small shriek as he scrambled over the back of the couch and quickly scooted back, only to find himself quickly trapped by the wall. She was now, to his greatest of horrors, right in front of him. He winced when she gave a small squeal and proceeded, to his greatest of terrors, to _glomp_ him.

She completely ignored his terrified screams.

However, two other people could not. Until they put on earmuffs. _Then_ they could.

"So what do you think of this scene, La—er I mean Alena?" Nadil shouted over to the older girl leaning over him.

The girl took a moment to yell, "Don't hurt him, Rellie!" before taking the sheets and started to read through them. After a moment she gave a nod and grinned at him, handing him the sheets back. "Just maybe tweak a line here and there and I think you've got gold, Nadil."

He let out a sigh. "You think so?"

"Really. So anything new happen during my brief absence?"

"Nothing really…"

She raised a brow. "Oh? Your voice says one thing but your face says something else."

They cringed when they heard a loud crash and then a small voice crying. Instantly Alena disappeared in a whirl of black and white winds and was at the poor, little, cow costumed girl's side. Galaba was hovering over both of them frantically. He had shrunk a bit and was flying in circles.

The little girl clung to the older girl's waist and continued to cry. "Waaaaaahhh!"

Alena gently patted her cow-hooded head. "There, there, Khetti, tell Mommy what happened."

By this time Relle had come down the stairs and was watching the two, much to Sabel's great relief. He staggered up to Nadil, his hair and clothes tussled, but he was not in too bad of shape having experienced his first fangirl attack. Nadil had only risen a brow at that before coming down to join the group below.

Khetti sniffled and looked up at Alena with big, tearful eyes. "I-I was widing Gawaba and and we were having fun and and it wasn't Gawaba's fauwt so don't punish him!"

Alena sweatdropped a little. "I won't, I won't, but what happened? We heard a loud crash."

The little girl sniffled. "I…I twied to stand on him like Sabewu had done and slipped and fell…"

Sabel blinked and then immediately wished he had stayed back upstairs when he saw the icy look Alena had shot him.

She turned her attention back to Khetti and hugged her close. "There, there, you're okay now," she smiled and patted her head. "Galaba is fretting for you so why don't you tell him that you're okay?"

The little girl nodded and proceeded to hug the fish close. Though this was much to Sabel's disgust, he kept his mouth shut, knowing it was not worth the risk. He glanced at Nadil who just shrugged. Sabel sighed, wondering what he had done to deserve such hatred when Relle suddenly latched onto him. Like Nadil had predicted just the night before, he wished the girls were gone from the place. And the sooner, the better.

"Too bad you have to put up with us for the next _week_," the Alena said wickedly. Sabel just inwardly groaned.

----------

Fortunately for Sabel, Alena had decided to visit the two new managers and requested the contest to be bumped up. Something about having to meet some person and making a deadline or something. The two had just looked at each other and shrugged. If the contestants were ready, then they did not see why not. And Shyrendora was _more_ than ready. When Alena later told them they would be holding the contest the following day, Sabel actually fell to his knees with _both_ Relle and Khetti now clinging to him and looked up to the high ceiling and exclaiming, "There _is_ a God!"

All three girls had found that amusing and while the two younger girls continued to torment the poor youkai, Alena went over to Nadil's desk to find him working furiously, as usual.

"Don't you ever do anything else?" she asked after watching him for a few minutes. "Other than going to visit Cesia that is," she snickered.

Nadil was glad he was wearing his mask so the girl would not see his blush. "Well, no, there really is no time for such things."

"Not even to take a trip to your home?" she said idly.

At that Nadil suddenly jumped up, knocking the chair back in the process, and yelled at her, "I HAVE NO HOME!"

Alena just raised a brow and when he realized that everyone was staring at him, he blinked and slowly bent over to pick up the chair, only to find that Alena had beat him to it and said softly, "Well you got that part wrong…you do have a home. It's just waiting for you."

He just looked at her for a moment, his face expressionless, before slowly sitting back down and resumed to work. The other three watched her walk down the small set of steps and upon seeing their questioning looks she just grinned and tossed her long black hair back. "S'alright, just a bad memory." She looked at Sabel. "Have you ever asked him about his past?"

Sabel opened his mouth to answer only to close it. "…I…well no…"

"You've been working for him for how long and you never asked?" Relle said puzzled.

"Er…well…" Sabel stammered. In fact it had never crossed his mind to. He had found no need. And the Demon Lord had never asked him any personal questions either. They had just…gone on and started living at that point. Before he could continue going down memory lane, Khetti started to tug insistently on his shirt and after a few moments he hissed, "What?"

"Kafuuki!" Khetti said with a cute smile on her face.

Sabel just stared at her. "…What?"

"Kafuuki!" she repeated.

"What the _hell_ is a "kafuuki"?"

"She wants a cookie," Alena said as she produced a cookie out of thin air and gave it to her. The little cow costumed girl nibbled on it happily.

Relle poked Sabel then. "Have you ever worn girl's clothing?"

Sabel just stared at her. "WHAT?"

"Well…you _do_ look like a girl."

"I do not!" he yelled angrily.

Relle just shrugged. "Well I only asked because I saw some interesting outfits in your wardrobe. Your room _also_ looked interesting."

Sabel stared. "_What?_"

Khetti just whistled innocently as he charged to his room. There was a moment of silence, exactly like the silence and calm one feels before a monstrous storm comes through.

Alena sighed as she held up three fingers and started the count down. "3. 2. 1…"

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

----------

The next day could not have come sooner for Sabel. When Alena had told the two youkai that they would be leaving the underground labyrinth so they could enter through the front doors and enter _normally_ rather than suddenly appearing within the opera house itself, he almost danced for joy. He had spent most of the previous day and night refurnishing his room. Khetti had turned it completely into a girlie girl's room, complete with pink frills, ribbons, and various stuffed animals. One could imagine Sabel's distress.

He was not the only one in distress that morning either. Alfeegi was on the verge of tearing his hair out. It was still hours until Shyrendora and Cesia would be performing for the judges, but there were already stacks of complaints by pretty much everyone who inhabited the opera house. And they were the most ludicrous, too.

"Listen to this, Ruwalk!" Alfeegi half yelled at his partner who was just sitting calmly at his desk, his legs propped up on it as usual.

"I'm listening, Feeg," Ruwalk sighed and picked up a book.

"They heard screams, _screams_, or rather more like _angry yelling_ the past night and morning! Also they heard _child-like laughter_! Can you believe this?"

"Well, maybe it was the Demon Lord and he has kids," Ruwalk shrugged.

Alfeegi pondered upon that idea before he gave Ruwalk a stony look. "I highly doubt that, Ruwalk," he said in a dry voice. He was not amused when Ruwalk offered him water. "But they think this place is _haunted_ for real! _With real ghosts!_"

"Well this _is_ a pretty old opera house."

"RUWALK!"

The long, dual-colored haired manager cringed and pulled away from his desk. "Sorry, sorry, but it is. So no one has blamed the Demon Lord?"

"On the contrary, they haven't even made so much as a peep about him! Except for the few who said they would prefer _him_ over _ghosts_!"

"Well then just call a ghost exterminator."

"RUWALK!"

"Okay, ask the Demon Lord to check out the ghost problem for us."

Ruwalk winced when he saw Alfeegi's face and barely ducked the chair he had thrown at him. "Well there goes two hundred dollars…"

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHH! OUT!" Alfeegi screamed and Ruwalk was immediately gone.

Ruwalk winced when he heard the door slam firmly shut behind him and sighed. "I guess that wasn't the smartest thing to do…"

"A lover's spat?"

The manager felt chills go through him as he turned to find Kitchel just giving him a sly look. He coughed. "Alfeegi and I are _not_ lovers," he said, heavily stressing the "not". "We just work together. We have our own _different apart_ments as well." At Kitchel's dubious looks, he continued. "We live separately."

Dubious stare.

"Different room numbers!"

More doubtful staring.

"WE LIVE IN TWO SEPARATE APARTMENTS AND ON DIFFERENT FLOORS!" he shouted in an exasperated voice.

"Riiight," Kitchel said airily before looking at the door. Amazingly there were no cracks in it. "So what happened?"

"Just complaints from the cast who live in the opera house. People claim to have heard "ghosts" during the night."

She raised a brow. "Ghosts you say?"

Ruwalk nodded. "Least, that's what the claims said. I, uh, kind of provoked him a little too much, eh-heh…"

"Smart," Kitchel said with blatant sarcasm. "But I didn't hear anything during the night."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Nope."

"Hm…maybe you're a heavy sleeper."

Kitchel just shrugged. "I won't deny that. But I am a little more attuned to the spirit world than most."

At this Ruwalk raised a brow and looked at her skeptically. "This coming from a former thief."

"Hey, thieves, treasure hunter, whatever it is, if it involves something that's worth millions, I'll go through anything. And that includes haunted tombs, crypts, ancient ruins, etc., etc."

Ruwalk just stared at her. "…Desperate, huh?"

"I think of it as going to the soul of treasure hunting," she said with starry eyes. Ruwalk just sweatdropped and shook his head.

A few more hours passed, hours bringing the time of the contest closer, and soon the time for the arrival of the judges was at hand. By this time Alfeegi had cooled down – much to Ruwalk's relief – and the two of them were waiting by the entrance of the opera house. As they steeped out, they shivered from the cold blast of air that greeted them.

Ruwalk pulled up the collar of his trench coat while Alfeegi wrapped his own coat tighter to him. "Looks like winter is quickly coming," he said while Alfeegi scoured the cobbled stoned streets before them. There were many carriages passing by despite the chilly weather and he was keeping a look out for the one that would be bearing the four judges.

"It's almost the end of autumn," Alfeegi said a little bitterly. He hated the cold.

"Actually we're only three quarters through," Ruwalk said matter-of-factly. At Alfeegi's cold glare he quickly shut his mouth and refrained from saying more.

They waited a few more minutes outside the grand double doors leading to the opera house before retreating back inside to warm up a bit, but just as they started to turn around, they heard the sound of hooves come toward them and Alfeegi, much to Ruwalk's relief, brightened instantly and eagerly went up to door as the carriage stopped. Ruwalk found it a little interesting that it was drawn by four black horses and the carriage itself was completely black, but he just shrugged and joined Alfeegi as the door opened to reveal the judges of the contest.

They were caught completely by surprise.

Well, it was actually Alfeegi who did the catching.

As soon as the door open, a little girl in a cow costume suddenly leaped from the carriage doorway and latched onto Alfeegi, the surprised manager staggering backwards. "Wh-What the!"

"Khetti, get off Alfeegi," a girl dressed completely in black said as she stepped out of the carriage with the help of Ruwalk.

"You know she can't help it, Rellie," an older girl dressed in more earthy tones consisting of browns and darker greens said with a grin as she jumped out and headed to the horses.

Ruwalk stared at the three girls. The two older ones had masks on, the one who was addressed as Rellie wearing a sort of black anubis mask. She also had cat ears on her head. The other one, the one whom he presumed to be Alena, wore a mask that resembled a tiger. Sort of. It had the stripes. The third, smaller one did not need a mask. Her cow costume was complete with a cow hood so she had that drawn over her. Her little cow bell clanged every time she moved, but luckily for them, it was not an annoying clang.

"It's padded inside," Alena whispered to him when he asked why it sounded muted. "She wouldn't stop clanging the bell on the way over so Relle took some action."

Realizing that he was only seeing three of the judges (well, Alfeegi was really still holding one of them. Khetti had managed her way to sit on his shoulders. But he did not seem to mind so much though it would probably be best if he did not since the cow costumed little girl had a hold of his ponytail.), Alfeegi looked into the carriage. "Erm…where's judge…uh…Nadil?"

"Here."

The two managers whirled around at the deep voice behind them, much to Khetti's delight. Before them they saw a tall (What? Nadil's kinna tall…taller than Rath –snickers-), handsome (-droool- Iun care what you Nadil haters think, he's YUMMY), young (okay, so he's actually a few centuries old, but he is SO not middle-aged! And I can have literary freedom…) gentleman dressed in a black suit and, much to their surprise, a cape. His mask was actually quite simple. Completely white, it covered three-quarters of his face, only the left side of his face completely covered. The right side was only covered around his eye. However, his appearance and stature appeared to Ruwalk as more of a nobleman or some person of higher power. There was also a darker aura about him but before Ruwalk could try to sort it out, he was caught completely by surprise when he suddenly found himself face to face with the mint green haired youkai who had given them the applications.

Sabel grinned as he stepped back and with a black-gloved hand, he held it out in front of the older, tiger-masked girl and began the introductions. "Announcing the volunteer judges, Lady Alena." He turned and held out his hand to the black anubis-masked girl and said, "Lady Relle." He then moved to the cow-costumed girl who had jumped off of Alfeegi's shoulders by now and said, "Lady Khetti." It seemed his voice and manner were a little forced and restrained when introducing the last two girls, but once again, before Ruwalk could ponder more about this, Sabel turned to face his master and with a lot more grandeur than he had given the girls, he said, "And last, but not in the very least, the great Lord Nadil."

Alfeegi raised a brow at the introduction but he shrugged it off and bowed to the foursome, yanking at the ends of Ruwalk's long hair and pulled the unsuspecting co-manager down with him when he did not follow suit quickly enough. "It is a great honor to have you here to judge this little contest. Your decisions will greatly reflect upon the whole of this upcoming opera as well as perhaps the whole opera house. Please make yourself as comfortable as you wish and if you need any help, just ask any of the cast and crew and they will be more than happy to oblige." He then jabbed Ruwalk hard in the ribs.

Taking the painful hint, Ruwalk straightened back up and ignoring the streams of pain he was still feeling from his head he said, "I am Ruwalk and this is Alfeegi. If there is any dissatisfaction during your brief stay, just come to either of us and we will take care of it right away. There are refreshments within the main auditorium. Now, I'm sure all of you are tired from the ride and probably want to get in from the cold. Shall we step inside then?"

After Alfeegi instructed Sabel of where to take to the carriage and horses, they quickly went inside and much to Alfeegi's dismay, Khetti started to run around and came dangerously close to some rather expensive items. But before he could take action, Alena was already there and had settled the cow-costumed girl onto _Ruwalk's_ shoulders. The black and brown haired manager glanced up at his passenger in surprise but laughed and carried her into the main auditorium where she mooed in awe. Relle slowly spun on the heel of her high-heeled boot, admiring the artwork above and taking in everything that was within the walls and columns of the huge opera house. Only Nadil and Alena seemed unimpressed, or rather passive, about the whole grandeur.

A little disconcerted, Alfeegi went up to them and asked, "Well, what do you think?"

Alena blinked from her daze and smiled at the manager. "It looks like you two have been keeping up with this place rather well," she said, and by the content tone in her voice and Nadil's nod Alfeegi suddenly felt his worries dissipate.

"So when do we start judging?" Relle asked after she had finished inspecting the area.

"And when do we get to eat some cookies?" Khetti asked, her voice muffled from the cow hood.

Ruwalk laughed at the little cow-costumed girl's question and moved down the steps to the stage. The judges table was placed on the platform right above the first ten rows of seats. "There will be cookies down at the judging table. And I think you all came just in time, actually," he added when he saw Kitchel waving and grinning up at them from the edge of the stage. Nohiro, Delte, Ringleys, and Zoma were with her as well, and they seemed to be in deep discussion behind her back. As they continued their descent, Ruwalk noticed that members of the cast and crew occupied some of the front row seats. The young mint green haired youkai was also sitting in one of the seats near the judges table. He was sitting near the aisle on the twelfth row right behind the judges and had his feet propped up on the seat in front of him. It was also near the seat where Nadil would be sitting. _…I don't even know his name_, he realized thoughtfully. _Alfeegi's going to yell at him for having his feet up like that_.

"Well, here's the last stop for the Ruwalk Express!" he said laughing as he stopped right in front of Khetti's seat.

"Yay! That was fun!" she said happily as she hopped off his shoulders and plopped into her seat. She then nabbed a cookie and started to nibble on it happily as the other three filed in and took their seats.

Ruwalk saw Alfeegi's raised brow and just said, "What?" before taking his own seat.

When the lights started to dim, the group on the stage immediately hopped down and took their seats, Ringleys flying over to the small orchestra surrounding the stage. Despite Ruwalk's earlier beliefs, though the whole orchestra consisted completely of water lights, the instruments were fitted for their smaller size. The music was just amplified through various speakers located throughout the auditorium.

"So who's first?" Relle asked Alfeegi when he sat down. His seat was a little behind hers since she was on the other end of the table and he was closer to her.

Alfeegi leaned back in his seat and sighed. "I think it's Shyrendora. Well, no, I don't think. I _know_. She would never let anyone go before her."

And as if on cue, the curtain was suddenly _blown_ open as cold blasts of air filled the large room. The stage was completely encased in ice and snow was falling from the ceiling. At first Ruwalk thought it was all fake but to his great surprise he found that the snow was _real_ and when he looked at the stage he could see that the ice and everything else was real as well. In shock he looked at Alfeegi only to find that his partner was just as shocked as he was. This set was completely different than the one they had seen before.

Then came the prima donna herself. Dressed completely in white and blue, and as her style, her dress had many open patches to reveal her pale white skin. Ruwalk wondered how the hell she got into the laced and chained thing she called a dress but was once again cut from his thoughts when she stepped up to the edge, the mike in her hands, and a rather smug look on her face.

"…She looks like a freaking whacked out pop singer," Relle muttered and Alfeegi could not agree more.

"…That's _a lot_ of glitter…" Khetti added.

"…And her song is "Ice Queen"…" Alena said after she glanced at the sheet in front of her.

"…How fitting," Nadil commented. "Though I do not believe she needs that getup to get that point across."

"Wait a second, "Ice Queen" is a song by Within Temptation!" Alena exclaimed indignantly. "And she claims this to be her own song! Negative one hundred points…"

While Relle rolled her eyes as Alena scribbled furiously, Shyrendora smiled at the judges, oblivious to all that had transpired. "Good afternoon, judges!" she said cheerily. So cheerily it made everyone's stomach flip. "I hope you had a safe and easy trip on the way over to this humble theatre."

"Humble my ass, the witch is such a suck-up," Sabel muttered in a voice loud enough only for Nadil to hear. Whether or not the Demon Lord heard it Sabel did not know since he gave no indication.

"Thank you, Shyrendora," Alena said in a slightly cold voice. "Less talking and more performing, please?"

There was a bit of applause and "oohs" from the audience as Shyrendora gritted her teeth and turned around to walk back to the center of the stage. When she reached the exact center, Ringleys took his cue and the music started.

() --- () --- ()

Doom da doo, well first off, who are Khetti and Relle? They're close online friends of mine and Khetti helps proof my chapters n-n

Khetti: And it's a good thing I do, otherwise you'd have a big mess!

-coughs- Well anyway, can anyone tell me who Alena is? Nadil did a little slip at the beginning and her name should actually help you. I'll give you another hint: When it comes to making up names or words, I tend to scramble already existing words and names -wink-

But those three are only in the fic for just the judging. They might return again at some point later in the story, but they are just guest characters/people so don't expect to seem them often. They might be referred to at some point, but yeah. Anyways, onto the reviews!

Kavic: -coughs- Easy girl, there's enough Ruwalk for everyone…well maybe xD;

FireyFlames: Glad you like the story and I hope you keep reading it n-n

Yokai no Miko: Yeah, sorry about the Nadil rant u-u;; I didn't mean to blow up like that, it just that it happens a lot in other fics and I just kinna snapped x-x;;; Sorry x----X But I understand your view point so I'm in no way objecting to how you think! I had also thought of that at the beginning too actually o-o And on the SabelxKitchel thing…well you'll just have to wait and see, mwahaha.

bananaluvie-rc: Crazy cool? XD First time I heard that one, lol. And you think they are fitting with the original character oO? Weird…I think Erik in Pot(at)O is a lot more aggressive than how I have Nadil…lol.

Shorea Tashinnaku: The relationship with Kitchel is up in the air officially. Personally I see three possibilities: Thatz being the number 1, then Tetheus, then Sabel. But as this is a fan based world, anything can really go xD And you keep any doubts of me updating at bay cos at the moment I'm really working quite quickly on this fic. I'm like having part of a chapter already done before I even upload the next chapter xD I don't want to upload them too quick ya know.

dark-birdie: Hey! Glad you found the fic! And yes I ADORE Sabel n-n And I think you've found out who two of the judges are, but if you didn't figure out the other one, then I shall be sad and disappointed (**another hint**)


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